Rapids forward Omar Cummings takes the high road over Real Salt Lake defender Chris Wingert during the first half of a game last October. The rivalry resumes Saturday with the teams headed in opposite directions. Slumping Colorado will go into Salt Lake to face one of this year’s best MLS teams.

Some games during a season — against teams that draw heightened hatred — can make or break a season. And those games have little to do with overall records or championship aspirations.

In 2010, the Broncos were routed by the Oakland Raiders in Denver, 59-14. The other 11 losses are hardly remembered among many Broncos fans, but that stinger against the Raiders still hurts.

The Buffs had a losing record entering the final regular-season game in 2007. But by beating Nebraska 65-51 after scoring 34 unanswered points in the second half, a part of the season was redeemed.

And so it goes between the Rapids and Real Salt Lake, two regional rivals who ramp up their rivalry with actual hardware.

The Rocky Mountain Cup — the derby series between the teams culminating each season with a trophy — plays its second of three legs Saturday in Utah. The Rapids face Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium at 8 p.m. and, after hosting the Seattle Sounders on July 28, play their regional rival for the final time of the regular season Aug. 4.

After the game, Colorado’s Pablo Mastroeni tucked a jersey into his shorts and pointed at it in front of the more than 17,000 Salt Lake fans, apparently taunting that they were in his pocket.

“The moment when this competition became the real deal was when Pablo stuffed his shirt in his pants and all hell broke loose,” Rapids supporter Mark Bodmer told The Denver Post in April.

This year, the Rapids have added pressure in the Rocky Mountain Cup. Salt Lake enters having won the past five derbies and Real leads the season series with a 2-0 victory in April.

Colorado enters Saturday’s game as losers of four consecutive games and six of its past seven. The Rapids (7-12-1, 22 points) have fallen to seventh place in the Western Conference and are currently out of the playoff picture.

Salt Lake (11-7-3, 36 points) remains in contention for the MLS Supporters’ Shield, which goes to the year’s best regular-season team. They have the second-best mark in the league.

“We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Rapids coach Oscar Pareja said after Wednesday’s loss at Toronto. “We have to move on as there is no time to regret.”

covers baseball and the Rockies and all sorts of sports. He started working at The Denver Post while in high school before graduating from the University of Colorado. Reach him at ngroke@denverpost.com

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